High School

Former NFL QB Seneca Wallace scores new job with Texas high school football program

Former Iowa State signal caller, current quarterbacks coach for UFL's St. Louis Battlehawks, hired to guide Frisco-area program's offense

Levi Payton

Aug 30, 2007; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace (15) passes against the Oakland Raiders in the first quarter at Qwest Field.
Aug 30, 2007; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace (15) passes against the Oakland Raiders in the first quarter at Qwest Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

When Seneca Wallace decided to hang up his cleats a decade ago, it didn’t mean he was finished with the game of football.

Not even close.

These days the game that put him through college at Iowa State and gave him eight years of NFL service with the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers is game he spends his days giving back to.   

Currently serving as quarterback’s coach for the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks, Wallace already has his next coaching gig lined up. He’s been named offensive coordinator at Frisco’s Legacy Christian Academy High School.

It will hardly be his first foray in the high school coaching ranks. It won’t even be his first coaching gig in the area, as Wallace served as an assistant coach at Episcopal School of Dallas from 2017-2021 before landing at John Paul II high in Plano in 2022.

Wallace, 44, also spent time as a camp assistant with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 where he worked with quarterbacks.

Born in Sacramento, Calif., Wallace attended high school at Cordova (Calif.) High School where he was a multi-sport star. After beginning his college career at Sacramento Community College, he went on to a standout career at Iowa State before becoming a fourth-round pick (No. 110 overall) by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Seneca Wallace
Sept. 29, 2001: Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace slaps hands with fans after a win over Baylor. / Bill Neibergall/The Register, Des Moines Register via Imagn Content Services, LLC

He didn’t see his first NFL action until 2005, playing in seven games for the Seahawks. He drew the first four starts of his career during the 2006 season with Seattle, playing eight games that year and 10 more in 2007.

With incumbent starter Matt Hasselbeck battling back and knee problems during the 2008 season, Wallace stepped in and started eight games. It was the best season of his career, as he led the Seahawks in passing that season with 1,532 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.

He went on to spend one more season in Seattle before playing with Cleveland in 2010 and 2011, starting half of the 14 games that he played in.

Seneca Wallace
Aug 24, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace (6) passes the ball in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. / Andrew Weber-Imagn Images

As a former Packer, Wallace should fit right in with Legacy Christian's green and yellow color scheme. After missing the 2012 season, Wallace returned to the league in 2013 for two games with Green Bay and became the first Black quarterback to start a game for the Packers.

In all, Wallace played in 64 NFL games, drawing starts in 22 of those contests, and passed for 4,947 yards, 31 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

Seneca Wallace
Nov 4, 2013; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Seneca Wallace (9) is chased by Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers (90) and defensive end Shea McClellin (99) in the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Wallace became the first Black quarterback to start a game for Green Bay during his time with the Packers. / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Once the UFL season is complete, Wallace will turn his attention toward Legacy Christian, where he will have a stable of talented young underclassmen to oversee. The Eagles averaged 359.8 yards of offense per game last season, led by dynamic dual-threat quarterback Luke Lawrence.

Like Wallace, Lawrence is a 5-foot-11 signal-caller who can strain a defense with his arm or his legs. As a junior last season, he accounted for 2,375 of the Eagles’ 4,677 yards of total offense (1,724 passing, 553 rushing), passed for 14 touchdowns and six interceptions and rushed for nine touchdowns as the Eagles finished with an 8-5 record.

Seneca Wallace
Jeremy Gustafson of Slater, Iowa, watches College Gameday in his Seneca Wallace jersey before the CyHawk game on September 9th, 2023. / Collin Maguire/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

Levi’s sports journalism career began in 2005. A Missouri native, he’s won multiple Press Association awards for feature writing and has served as a writer and editor covering high school sports as well as working beats in professional baseball, NCAA football, basketball, baseball and soccer. If you have a good story, he’d love to tell it.

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